[CP 292 CD] Alan Coggins, Wendy Cook; Sound Images

September 2023; The C.P. P.T.B. have been deep, deep in the weeds for some time now, foraging endlessly out in the ether, the grand-purpose of their efforts being of course the eternal unlocking of a certain regional aesthetic relating to the arcane application of the Avant-Electronic spec pertaining to secondary/tertiary causes.

Case in point: the 1976 double-LP issue being replicated here, originally issued by MacDonald & Evans (Educational Recordings) Ltd. as the series' second release (after a Barry Boys-directed Julius Caesar as realised by The Globe Shakespeare Company) envisioned as "Vocal, electronic and instrumental compositions for creative work with 5-7-year-olds and 7-9-year-olds" turns out to be a wonder of mid-70s Analogue Sound Design, in each case the lone appearance on record by both Composer Alan Coggins & the storied "Teacher and choreographer. Senior Lecturer in Dance and Movement Studies at Middlesex Polytechnic at Trent Park. Choreographer for the Hallé Children’s Choir", Wendy Cook.

At first glance of the eye-watering inner-gatefold libretto, you'd be forgiven for assuming this the Ockgehem / Kodaly / Orff / Steiner / Waldorf Eurhythmy exercise it, by all appearances, seems to be; but in fact lurking across the four sides within are a series of entirely gripping minimal/synthesizer figures, occasionally lapsing into prepared-piano, albeit consistently quite experimental lanes, all under the auspices of indoctrinating children into the vast lanes of Electronic Sound. Incredible music, bits of which I'd heard over the years but taken as a whole certainly a thing of wonder!

Issued as a six-panel glossy booklet, with both LPs fitting neatly (with seconds to spare) on a single disc; this is the exact sort of discovery that has kept this series going into its 18th year, issued with all original aesthetics & context left in tact...